AK | Bright, clear, amber-tinged gold in the glass. The nose combines notes of walnut skins with something floral and juicy, ripe stone fruit. The palate, again bone-dry and high in fine, bright acidity, adds a lovely and pleasant bitterness that has the subtle astringency you get when eating very fresh, wet walnuts. This strikes a lovely balance between phenolics, freshness, and juicy, yellow fruit, then adds a lovely dollop of white pepper at the end. The finish is mouthwatering and echoes long. 90
FP | A delicate copper color. Big, even really quite monumental. High-toned aromatics, but the experience of tasting is dominated by the mouthfeel, where this really packs an explosive punch of fine tannin. For 12.5% ABV, this is super-viscous, although there is still some nice freshness; it is not genuinely zippy acidity, but at least enough to achieve a degree of balance. Persistent, but finishes on the tannins. 90
DW | More of a golden-syrup character in appearance; on the nose this introduces some soft herbal infusion notes, which have something of Campari or herbal bitters, with a sweet red-fruited note that reminds me very strongly of the (Campari-like) Spanish soft drink, Bitter Kas. On the palate, there is a clean Normandy cider vibe, and a pleasing bitter streak, which fades into the finish; pleasingly dry, mouthwatering tannins; the finish brings in a little strawberry for complexity. There's an appealing softness here, too. 90